Winfield pins hopes on new president

Expectations include new doses of civility in trustee meetings

Newly elected Winfield village president Erik Spande wants a healthy dose of civility injected into board meetings.

That may be easier said than done.

After several years of contentious bickering among trustees, Spande said his first order of business is to bring back a section of the village's ethics code that requires trustees to immediately report any contact with a developer. In addition, he wants trustees to consider putting together a civility code that will rule how elected officials conduct themselves during board meetings.

"A board can have honest and pointed discussions and to do that in a way that's respectful," he said.

For more than a year, trustees were embroiled in several controversies that included outsourcing police services and rezoning a portion of Roosevelt Road. During that time, four trustees held the balance of power and effectively overrode the president's veto several times.

"Residents were unhappy with the way the board had conducted its business," Spande said.

At a meeting just prior to the April 9 election, trustees Tim Allen, James Hughes, Jay Olson and Tony Reyes voted together to override outgoing President Deborah Birutis' veto on rezoning an area of Roosevelt Road near Winfield and Garys Mill roads from residential to B1 commercial. Birutis said the rezoning was illegal since the Plan Commission had not completed its public hearings on the issue.

On May 2, when the new board sits for the first time, the balance of power will have shifted to what's expected to be 3 on 3 with Spande holding the deciding vote. The new trustees who ran together with Spande include incumbent Jack Bajor and newcomers Phil Mustes and Jim McCurdy. While voter turnout in most neighboring towns averaged between 10 percent and 20 percent, Winfield led DuPage County with 45 percent, officials said.

"The whole town is focused on development for Roosevelt Road," said Allen, who has been a vocal proponent on the issue of rezoning and frequently butted heads with Spande.

Several trustees, including Allen, say they've called representatives from big box retailer, Costco, which once was interested in setting up shop in neighboring Wheaton. A group of property owners who live on Roosevelt Road and formed rightonroosevelt.com recently posted a letter they received from Costco last fall inquiring about their property. In addition, Allen says a Costco booster club was created by several residents in support of the chain that says its presence would translate into a million dollars in sales tax revenue for the village.

But the rezoning is tied up in court as several nearby homeowners sued the village over the change. Until the issue is settled, the village can expect some new revenue because residents narrowly voted in favor of increasing the village's sales tax by a quarter of a percent.

For now, all eyes will be on the new president-elect.

"All the bickering and divisiveness … something went wrong on so many levels," said Hughes about the board's recent past. "Spande has it in him to pull it out, but make no mistake it will be as much his effort as anyone else's."